Tags: tennis, music, playlist, Wimbledon, US Open, Queens
By Grace Cunningham
As bright, young tennis players hit pause on their pre-match playlists and make their way onto courts all over the world, all they can think about is keeping focus. Slinging their Head and Dunlop bags onto clay or astroturf, they wipe their brows and prepare for a couple hours of intense, adrenaline filled concentration. The only sound that can be heard is an occasional murmur from the crowd or a ball echoing across the court and swooping over the net. They walk to their positions with racquets in steady hands, standing firm and preparing for the match ahead. But when the clapping dies down and they leave that court, no walkout music follows them.
To get a feeling for how these players get into the zone, we’ve been given access to a tennis player’s no-man’s land, their most vulnerable position: a compiled pre-match playlist.
The Playlist
The immediate idea of tennis players listening to music pre-match might fill your head with images of fast paced warmups, of being energetic and alive rather than relaxed. Even when glancing at this summer’s spritely and raunchy rom com, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers we see a soundtrack brimming with exhilarating and adrenaline filled techno whenever the players take the court. It seems no questions asked that tennis gets your blood pumping and your feet moving. According to upcoming voice Lexie Stevens however, tennis tends to make its own kind of music.
“When I feel comfortable, I don’t listen to music. I just want to hear the noises around me like the balls hitting and the people talking, I just want to be a bit more outside.”
After leaving high school, Lexie devoted her life to tennis. The 24-year-old went pro in 2018 and has been inspired ever since to embark on this journey by her family. Growing up both her mother and grandfather were avid tennis players.
“He was addicted to tennis, because they were both so into it, they put me onto tennis.”
She now travels globally, to Australia, North and South America, Africa and Asia, whilst producing content consistently for her TikTok @lexiestevenstennis.
As expressed above, Lexie feels that it is the natural sound of tennis that creates her pre and during the match music. She thoughtfully explains:
“You need to have your focus all the time because the points are going so fast and you can get distracted so easily, that two or three points are then just gone, so you always need to keep your focus.”
This need to focus comes up time and time again. The 24-year-old does recognise the power of music though, suggesting that “if I’m really nervous, then I’ll listen to music to keep my mind off it a bit, I always listen to classical music. I don’t need to be hyped.”
“You celebrate your victories alone and teams celebrate together, of course you’ve seen the videos of soccer players who after the match are in the dressing room dancing together with everybody, but when you are a tennis player and you’re in a final then there are only two players in a tournament, it’s you and you’re opponent one lost one won. But of course, when you are happy, you listen to music.”
Lexie would add Hoe Het Loopt by Paul Sinha and Kraantje Pappie to the playlist, “it’s just the way it goes, you know? If it’s not today then it will be next week,” along with her favourite piece of classical music, The Carnival of the Animals.
When he isn’t getting pumped up on the court to loud music with his team of 15, Thomas Linley prefers to take a calmer approach to his tactical pre-match listening. ‘Before we even start to do an on-court warm-up, I like to listen to much more chilled music,’ Tom says. He says it gets him into this ever sought after ‘chilled headspace,’ and that it ‘helps with nerves.’ 22-year-old Tom, who is currently playing in the States at his college, agrees with Lexie in that tennis and its natural sound has the ability to make its own kind of music. He ponders for a second, then says, “tennis is a very therapeutic sport, and it’s addictive. At a high level, the rhythm and sense of satisfaction after hitting the ball clean and well is amazing. It’s not only the sound that is therapeutic but hitting the ball well triggers almost every sense.”
To achieve this level of calm before an intense match, Tom would add a number of artists to the playlist. These include Loyle Carner, Nines, Sainte, Dave, and any music similar to this.
Game, set, match. When chatting with our final devout player, Britney Chiu, we can see a vastly different approach to pre-match listening.
“A few years ago, I would listen to really slow music when doing anything at all. However, I realised after some time that it was negatively affecting my performance. I currently listen to more upbeat music. This can include pop, indie rock, and other music similar to those two genres.” The 20-year-old professional Californian player believes that, “listening to music prior to matches does affect your mood and your play. When I play a match, and sometimes even in practice, I tend to always have a song playing in my head.
“I’ve realised that if there’s a slower song in my head, it also affects my play style. I might not be moving my feet as fast or being as aggressive. The same applies the other way. Therefore, it’s important to find a good song to match the rhythm of the match.”
The songs she would add to the playlist are currently her favourites to listen to prior to a match. These are Good Day by Forrest Frank and Attention by Kevin Kraemer.
Knowing what our players do for their own performance is all good and well, but is there anything to be said about a stronger musical connection between tennis and music on the horizon?
Creating a Bond
Due to the shared passion between fans of music and fans of sport, it would seem that the two harmonise with each other perfectly. The crescendo that occurs between these star-crossed lovers during major football tournaments is immense, and this can clearly be seen with examples like Three Lions by Baddiel and Skinner reaching number one in the UK charts during the 2018 World Cup. Football and music make each other glow, but can this same feeling ever benefit tennis?
Lexie Stevens says: “you don’t have a song you walk onto the court to, and maybe it would create more tennis fans. When you hear a song you might think, oh it’s about this player and it could create more popularity for the tennis players themselves and more team building for fans.”
Perhaps one day major musical changes will be made in tennis, but it seems for now that a ball hitting a racquet is music to the ears of the attentive crowd. So as players across the world plug their headphones in to block out those pre-match nerves, let’s hope this playlist offers some insight into their raw and individual relationships with music.